Duty reductions imperative for mining industry

The aluminium industry had been growing very well till the recent past in terms of production capacity as well as demand. However, the current situation is alarming as the industry has been seriously affected due to drastic drop in global prices. The price on aluminium of the London Metals Exchange has fallen from the level of above $3,000 per tonne last July to less than $1,350 per tonne in March leading to serious injury to the domestic industry.

It would, therefore, be necessary to help the aluminium industry by removing deterrents in its path to becoming globally competitive and to leverage its competitive advantage of availability of resources of bauxite and coal. In this context, the import duty on aluminium need to be increased to the level of 15% till the situation improves. The duty on imported scrap should also be increased to the level of 15% as that for aluminium products. The duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) rates applicable on July 12, 2007 may be restored.

There is urgent need for the complete withdrawal of export duty on chrome ore/concentrates with a view to make exports competitive. Most of the chromite mines have scaled down their operations as international prices of chrome has fallen by over 60% from the second quarter of 2008 and there are no buyers at these prices also.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.